Comments on: Open source = new kind of vendor lock-in? http://www.nonprofittechblog.org/open-source-new-kind-of-vendor-lock-in?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=open-source-new-kind-of-vendor-lock-in Confessions of a Non-Profit Executive Director Sat, 28 Jan 2012 12:36:51 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Allan Benamer http://www.nonprofittechblog.org/open-source-new-kind-of-vendor-lock-in/comment-page-1#comment-95274 Allan Benamer Fri, 15 Feb 2008 04:11:12 +0000 http://www.nonprofittechblog.org/open-source-new-kind-of-vendor-lock-in#comment-95274 Interesting question? I'm not a lawyer nor do I give out legal advice. However, as a matter of ethics, this issue is already covered in the SANS code of ethics at: http://www.sans.org/resources/ethics.php "I will avoid and be alert to any circumstances or actions that might lead to conflicts of interest or the perception of conflicts of interest. If such circumstance occurs, I will notify my employer or business partners." Just notify your boss. Interesting question? I’m not a lawyer nor do I give out legal advice. However, as a matter of ethics, this issue is already covered in the SANS code of ethics at:

http://www.sans.org/resources/ethics.php

“I will avoid and be alert to any circumstances or actions that might lead to conflicts of interest or the perception of conflicts of interest. If such circumstance occurs, I will notify my employer or business partners.”

Just notify your boss.

]]> By: floyd http://www.nonprofittechblog.org/open-source-new-kind-of-vendor-lock-in/comment-page-1#comment-95269 floyd Wed, 13 Feb 2008 05:08:29 +0000 http://www.nonprofittechblog.org/open-source-new-kind-of-vendor-lock-in#comment-95269 I need some info. When a company is operating on a 503c status, can someone with recommending authority purchase software from a company they hold interest in. This software could have a dependency which would create future purchases and upgrades for years to come. Is this a concern? Sorry about resending. I did not click the followup by email. I need some info. When a company is operating on a 503c status, can someone with recommending authority purchase software from a company they hold interest in. This software could have a dependency which would create future purchases and upgrades for years to come. Is this a concern?
Sorry about resending. I did not click the followup by email.

]]> By: floyd http://www.nonprofittechblog.org/open-source-new-kind-of-vendor-lock-in/comment-page-1#comment-95268 floyd Wed, 13 Feb 2008 05:04:55 +0000 http://www.nonprofittechblog.org/open-source-new-kind-of-vendor-lock-in#comment-95268 I need some info. When a company is operating on a 503c status, can someone with recommending authority purchase software from a company they hold interest in. This software could have a dependency which would create future purchases and upgrades for years to come. Is this a concern? I need some info. When a company is operating on a 503c status, can someone with recommending authority purchase software from a company they hold interest in. This software could have a dependency which would create future purchases and upgrades for years to come. Is this a concern?

]]> By: oscillations http://www.nonprofittechblog.org/open-source-new-kind-of-vendor-lock-in/comment-page-1#comment-12 oscillations Tue, 21 Mar 2006 21:56:30 +0000 http://www.nonprofittechblog.org/open-source-new-kind-of-vendor-lock-in#comment-12 I'm the IT Director (and entire IT department) of a $2 million nonprofit, I just found this blog a few days ago, and I love it so far. Nice job. RE: open source, what I like to do when looking for solutions is to totally ignore whether something is OSS or not. 95% of the time I'm not going to (or really shouldn't) be messing around w/ the source. So, once that's out of the way, I can compare features and TCO and see what best meets my needs. Two examples: --When choosing firewalls/security devices for our network, I chose generic PC hardware along w/ open-source OS and software. None of the proprietary appliances met my needs until the costs were in the many 1000's of $, and here I get something well-tested, rock-solid, and w/ all the features I could ask for, from OSS. There was a learning curve, but it wasn't bad (I'm a *NIX guy), and now it just works. --When choosing email server software, I went the other way and chose a commercial package. Email is something that really needs to just work--it has to be up, and I don't have time to mess around w/ sendmail (or postfix or...) config files. The package has a reputation for being solid, and support is included so if it blows up I get someone on the line to help me. Now, I'm an OSS fan as much as anyone--we use it extensively internally, and I run some personal projects almost exclusively on OSS--but for the needs of our org, I find it helpful to look past it and compare solutions. I’m the IT Director (and entire IT department) of a $2 million nonprofit, I just found this blog a few days ago, and I love it so far. Nice job.

RE: open source, what I like to do when looking for solutions is to totally ignore whether something is OSS or not. 95% of the time I’m not going to (or really shouldn’t) be messing around w/ the source. So, once that’s out of the way, I can compare features and TCO and see what best meets my needs.

Two examples:
–When choosing firewalls/security devices for our network, I chose generic PC hardware along w/ open-source OS and software. None of the proprietary appliances met my needs until the costs were in the many 1000′s of $, and here I get something well-tested, rock-solid, and w/ all the features I could ask for, from OSS. There was a learning curve, but it wasn’t bad (I’m a *NIX guy), and now it just works.

–When choosing email server software, I went the other way and chose a commercial package. Email is something that really needs to just work–it has to be up, and I don’t have time to mess around w/ sendmail (or postfix or…) config files. The package has a reputation for being solid, and support is included so if it blows up I get someone on the line to help me.

Now, I’m an OSS fan as much as anyone–we use it extensively internally, and I run some personal projects almost exclusively on OSS–but for the needs of our org, I find it helpful to look past it and compare solutions.

]]> By: abenamer http://www.nonprofittechblog.org/open-source-new-kind-of-vendor-lock-in/comment-page-1#comment-11 abenamer Tue, 21 Mar 2006 17:13:47 +0000 http://www.nonprofittechblog.org/open-source-new-kind-of-vendor-lock-in#comment-11 Great reply - thanks for taking the time to answer... Yes, I think I'll better define what vendor lock-in means to me. I agree with you in that a hosted eCRM system is not true vendor lock-in. Fundamentally, vendor lock-in to me is a combination of the lack of transparency (technology being presented as divine secrets), a marketplace or developer community that is low in numbers so options for switching out a vendor is limited, and a lack of understanding sometimes by the client, sometimes by the vendor that the application cannot be maintained if the status quo were to change. I don't think a customized application is necessarily a locked-in application. It doesn't have to be at all. I agree with you that when clients aren't technically strong they don't have the capability to see the difference between off-the-shelf OSS and custom OSS software. This is the line that I think many "heroic" developers and vendors cross when they ask clients to adopt. I certainly don't want to create FUD or make people think that OSS isn't a great idea. I'm a big fan of OSS - in my spare time, I run this blog on Wordpress and my friend's blog at www.muckraked.com. I also have my own development website which is run on a Linux server. However, I'm very hesitant to recommend it to your typical NPO unless they have a very good record of finding and retaining good IT staff. Great reply – thanks for taking the time to answer… Yes, I think I’ll better define what vendor lock-in means to me. I agree with you in that a hosted eCRM system is not true vendor lock-in. Fundamentally, vendor lock-in to me is a combination of the lack of transparency (technology being presented as divine secrets), a marketplace or developer community that is low in numbers so options for switching out a vendor is limited, and a lack of understanding sometimes by the client, sometimes by the vendor that the application cannot be maintained if the status quo were to change.

I don’t think a customized application is necessarily a locked-in application. It doesn’t have to be at all. I agree with you that when clients aren’t technically strong they don’t have the capability to see the difference between off-the-shelf OSS and custom OSS software. This is the line that I think many “heroic” developers and vendors cross when they ask clients to adopt.

I certainly don’t want to create FUD or make people think that OSS isn’t a great idea. I’m a big fan of OSS – in my spare time, I run this blog on WordPress and my friend’s blog at http://www.muckraked.com. I also have my own development website which is run on a Linux server. However, I’m very hesitant to recommend it to your typical NPO unless they have a very good record of finding and retaining good IT staff.

]]> By: geilhufe http://www.nonprofittechblog.org/open-source-new-kind-of-vendor-lock-in/comment-page-1#comment-10 geilhufe Tue, 21 Mar 2006 14:00:35 +0000 http://www.nonprofittechblog.org/open-source-new-kind-of-vendor-lock-in#comment-10 First, full disclosure... IT director for 5 years at the Eastmont Computing Center in Oakland, CA and now one of "those" consultants. :) I have my own thoughts about Nick's "very reasonable" position that he titles "the truth" about open source. I respect Nick greatly, but was disappointed to see them propagating FUD-- fear, uncertainty and doubt. ;) But strip away the FUD and sales rhetoric and they have some solid points. The real point that both he and you are making (IMHO) is that open source software requires strong technical skills. Technical skills cost money and if you don't have the technical skills you can't ensure your vendor doesn't cross the line from off-the-shelf software to custom-off-the-shelf software to custom software. So how does lock in work? If you buy Kintera and then want to convert to Get Active, you need to spend a lot of money on data conversion. And the vendors don't help out by creating tools to assist with conversion, since they lose money when people convert. In open source similar but different. If you want to convert from Plone to Drupal same data conversion problem, but the open source communities tend to build tools to support data conversion. If the NPO doesn't have strong technical capacity, the previous two paragraphs have absolutely no meaning. Nor should they. How about if I implement CitySoft and decide that Nick and his crew aren't meeting my needs? Among which vendors can I choose? None. I have the source code so I can maintain it myself. Again, without strong technology capacity, the above paragraph is meaningless. So why is open source going to make a difference? Because it is increasingly (not yet, but increasingly) becoming relevant to nonprofits without strong technology capacity. Imagine purchasing a hosted eCRM system tailored to NPO needs. Click on an icon in the hosted solution and get a backup of your database (perhaps you didn't like the custom service or your needs have changed). Grab a CD and install the same hosted software on your computer/server. Follow a simple wizard and have your hosted service and data running locally in minutes. Or do the same thing with another hosted service provider. We can argue about what vendor lock in is all day long. That is definately not vendor lock in. So when is OSS relevant to an average nonprofit? I would say when it is implemented as off-the-shelf or custom-off-the-shelf software. But if you are a nonprofit without strong technology capacity, you are just going to have to trust your vendor. First, full disclosure… IT director for 5 years at the Eastmont Computing Center in Oakland, CA and now one of “those” consultants. :)

I have my own thoughts about Nick’s “very reasonable” position that he titles “the truth” about open source. I respect Nick greatly, but was disappointed to see them propagating FUD– fear, uncertainty and doubt. ;)

But strip away the FUD and sales rhetoric and they have some solid points.

The real point that both he and you are making (IMHO) is that open source software requires strong technical skills. Technical skills cost money and if you don’t have the technical skills you can’t ensure your vendor doesn’t cross the line from off-the-shelf software to custom-off-the-shelf software to custom software.

So how does lock in work? If you buy Kintera and then want to convert to Get Active, you need to spend a lot of money on data conversion. And the vendors don’t help out by creating tools to assist with conversion, since they lose money when people convert.

In open source similar but different. If you want to convert from Plone to Drupal same data conversion problem, but the open source communities tend to build tools to support data conversion.

If the NPO doesn’t have strong technical capacity, the previous two paragraphs have absolutely no meaning. Nor should they.

How about if I implement CitySoft and decide that Nick and his crew aren’t meeting my needs? Among which vendors can I choose? None. I have the source code so I can maintain it myself.

Again, without strong technology capacity, the above paragraph is meaningless.

So why is open source going to make a difference? Because it is increasingly (not yet, but increasingly) becoming relevant to nonprofits without strong technology capacity.

Imagine purchasing a hosted eCRM system tailored to NPO needs. Click on an icon in the hosted solution and get a backup of your database (perhaps you didn’t like the custom service or your needs have changed). Grab a CD and install the same hosted software on your computer/server. Follow a simple wizard and have your hosted service and data running locally in minutes. Or do the same thing with another hosted service provider.

We can argue about what vendor lock in is all day long. That is definately not vendor lock in.

So when is OSS relevant to an average nonprofit? I would say when it is implemented as off-the-shelf or custom-off-the-shelf software. But if you are a nonprofit without strong technology capacity, you are just going to have to trust your vendor.

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